All News articles – Page 1530
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News
Shadow justice minister attacks Jackson costs reforms
Shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter (pictured) called on personal injury lawyers to get their clients involved in the fight to amend the government’s proposals on civil litigation costs. Solicitors have until 30 June to respond, and the Labour MP for Hammersmith stressed how difficult it is ...
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Amendments to Civil Procedure Rules
There were four sets of amendment rules in 2010 and there has already been one set in 2011. Previous articles have dealt with the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2010 (SI 2010/621) – which accompanied the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in ...
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IT errors costly for legal aid firms
Two law firms have lost High Court actions against the Legal Services Commission after IT errors at the firms caused them to send blank documents when submitting tenders for legal aid work. The firms had claimed that the LSC should have informed them that some of ...
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Firm wins injunction against Solicitors from Hell
A Thames Valley firm has been awarded an interim injunction against the owner of website Solicitors from Hell, which blacklists law firms and lawyers. Gabbitas Robins, and one of the firm’s partners, Stephen Robins, won the injunction last week prohibiting site owner Rick Kordowski from ...
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Advocacy Training Council calls for vulnerable witness support
Criminal and family advocates should be specially trained and certified to handle vulnerable people in court proceedings, the Advocacy Training Council has recommended. In a report published this week, it said evidence suggests that vulnerable witnesses and defendants ‘frequently face almost insurmountable barriers to justice’ and ...
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Advertising age discrimination
I read Ivan Sanders’ letter, in which he pointed out the failure of many firms of solicitors to comply with equality legislation, with particular regard to age discrimination. I too have noticed for some time that many advertisements do not comply.
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Adding insult to injury
Labour justice minister Andy Slaughter raised a laugh at a predictably bellicose annual conference of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers last week (Lord Justice Jackson’s ears must have been burning, let’s put it that way).
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Learning about our brothers and sisters in law
I was in Budapest last week. The Hungarian Presidency of the EU held a conference on e-Justice, and I spoke about the CCBE’s Find-A-Lawyer project. I was on a panel covering the legal professions. On the coach from the hotel to ...
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Linklaters tops table of law firm websites
Magic circle firm Linklaters has the best corporate website of the top 10 UK law firms, according to a new benchmarking survey. Linklaters’ site was placed 6th in a survey of 100 corporate websites by digital marketing agency Intendance, with magic circle firm Slaughter and May ...
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Solicitors have won the battle over insurance
The legal profession locks horns with the insurance industry on a daily basis, and this animosity is only increased when a regulator or a government decides that the two must change their ways. But in my three years at the Gazette, I can’t remember a ...
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Prudential granted leave to appeal in privilege case
The Supreme Court has granted financial services company Prudential leave to appeal in a Court of Appeal case that had confirmed that legal professional privilege (LPP) can only apply to qualified solicitors and barristers. If Prudential chooses to go ahead with the appeal, a reversal of ...
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TUC warns against impact of employment law reforms
Government plans for reform of employment tribunals will discriminate against black and minority ethnic groups, disabled people, women, and young workers, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The TUC said today that it is ‘seriously concerned’ that the government’s proposals ‘are heavily weighted in favour ...
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Half of UK adults cold-called by claims firms
More than half of the UK’s adults have been cold-called or texted by claims firms in the past three years, research has suggested. A survey of almost 2,000 adults by market researchers consumerintelligence.com also found that 78% of people are concerned by a ‘growing compensation culture’ ...
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More law firms face financial distress, report suggests
There has been a 61% increase over the last 12 months in the number of law firms and other professional service providers facing financial distress, according to a report by business consultants Begbies Traynor. The Red Flag Alert report said that the number of professional services ...
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Consumer ‘confusion’ over legal expenses insurance
The public’s knowledge of legal expenses insurance is limited, despite the fact that 25 million UK households have bought the cover, according to research published today. A report by Consumer Focus, the UK consumer watchdog, found that 43% of people knew little or nothing about before-the-event ...
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CBI slams ‘claim first, think later’ tribunal culture
The government must tackle the ‘claim first, think later’ culture that is making employment tribunals slow and costly for employers, a report has urged. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) report Settling the Matter claims that there has been a 173% rise over the last five ...
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European Arrest Warrant: enough is enough
Julian Assange of Wikileaks is not the only one who thinks there are flaws in the working of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). He has been joined now by no less than the Commissioner of Justice, Viviane Reding, on the occasion of the third European ...
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Law firm develops divorce app
A North London family solicitor has launched an app designed to help divorcing or separating couples in England and Wales to save money on their legal fees. Peter Martin, head of family law at Finchley firm OGR Stock Denton, has devised the ‘Divorce?’ app to provide ...
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Society welcomes amendment to solicitors’ insurance rules
The Law Society has welcomed the decision of the Solicitors Regulation Authority to amend its proposals on reform of the solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) market.
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What do men and women solicitors really think about discrimination?
The Gazette’s recent survey about whether gender discrimination exists within the legal profession clearly struck a chord with many readers. Not only did we get a pretty good response rate, but also a huge number of detailed comments and opinions from those who participated. ...